here's what people are talking about. there were 22 guns inside the home where michael brooks died and investigators are still trying to determine if the gun's owner will face charges. we're live at city police headquarters. mike. >> reporter: we heard it over and over again, police saying they won't have to charge the shooter but they're looking nook whether the gun's owner stored the weapons properly. michael brooks' life was short but he left a long legacy among heartbroken loved ones who came together for his funeral about a week after his friend accidentally shot him in the head. >> it's not right. gun should be locked up and a put away from kids. >> the foundations of our very lives are shaken. >> at the service, the pastor reassured family that michael is at peace, before pallbearers carried his casket to a waiting

hearst. >> he did not deserve what happened. me being a steelers fan, and the loving memory of michael, award his jersey today. >> police say michael was with his friend when they somehow got a gun. the homeowner a retired correctional officer says he always kept his weapons, 22 of them, unloaded and locked away and has no idea how the boys gained access. >> 50 could change places with that young man, i gladly would. there's no winner or loser, just hurting people. everybody is hurting. >> you can't blame anybody and can't dwell. it happened already. it's over. so you just have to move on. >> michael, she says, would want it that way. and police confiscated all the guns in that home. michael brooks was 15 years old. mike hellgren, back to you. >> thank you. police say if you have children in your house, guns should be kept locked and unloaded with the ammunition in a separate

place. another accidental shooting this, one in a prince george's county playground is under investigation. a five-year-old shot his four- year-old neighbor in the back. it happened at an apartment complex in hillcrest heights. the child is expected to survive. the detectives are strike to determine who owns the gun and where the pair got it. a maryland native is missing in georgia tonight, and police have made a gruesome discovery in her apartment complex. jessica is falling the case from the newsroom. jessica. >> reporter: the woman grew up in howard county and attended appleton high school. she was lasts seen alive on june 25th in georgia. investigators found a dead body near her apartment but knows remains have not been positively identified. neighbors say she expressed concern because she thought someone tried to break into her apartment. police center two persons of interest in the case. >> thank you. she was preparing to take the bar exam. her family and friends held a chair service last night in

laurel. police mace make an arrest in the killing of a delivery driver in northeast ballot norm he was shot to death as he made a delivery in the 3900 block of urban avenue. tonight detectives have arrested william carr after receiving several tips. police believe the shooting happened during a robbery. exxon-mobil is ordered to pay more than a billion dollars to families affected bip a baltimore county gasoline leak. tonight the people impacted by this case are speaking out. wjz is live in jacksonville, mike has new reaction from the plaintiffs. mike. >> reporter: don, one comment that stood out to me was, a person who sued exxon said last night no one was popping champagne corks after the verdict. and by that the amount they meant no amount of money can restore their peace of minds. with most of the 26,000 gallons of gas still under jacksonville, no one in a two- mile radius trusts what comes out of here. >> it's not safe enough for me to drink if not safe enough to feel comfortable cooking with

it. >> their drinking water well was the first to turn up poison. now they have a triple filter system, but no one can guarantee it really works. >> even with this system, you don't have total confidence. >> no, no. at any given time you could have a breakthrough. it will handle a certain amount but there's no guarantee the jury award them $24 million. >> it feels really good to be vindicated. >> but what they're about to say, you hear a lot around here. >> you would turn all that away to get rid of the uncertainty that creates. this turns your life upside- down, and for people who don't live or haven't been through something like this, it's very difficult, i think, for them to imagine what it's like to have something underground that you don't know where it is. it's a bit of a ghost in your backyard, so to speak. >> if were you given that offer, what would you trade away the money for? >> assurance that my children won't get sick. >> they're still paying for

bottled water deliveries. tonight exclusively at 6, i'll tell the woman who gave the most emotional testimony the trial who works just feet away from the station how much of exxon's money she'll be getting. reporting live, wjz eyewitness news. exxon will appeal the jury's decision. maryland's make their way to their holiday destinations. over i-95 in south baltimore right now, just jam-packed there! even the roads are crowded, and andrea reports july 4th travel is actually down compared to last year. >> reporter: triple-a mid- atlantic expects 652,000 marylanders to drive to their holiday destinations, down 4% from last year. >> it is the gas prices. they was going -- they got down and they just stopped. >> an average gallon of unleaded in maryland is at

3.55. one year ago, it was 2.75. the survey may not be completely accurate. it was done at the ends of may, when gas prices were about 40 cents higher. although those projections indicate a decline we could see that decline not to be a significant as previously expected. >> more positive news, 60,000 marylandaries are expected to fly this weekend, up 20%. high gas prices weren't going to stop constance as she fills up for ocean city. >> we were going to go no matter what. but berry happy they went down. >> so many managedders choose to go stay put, just hanging on the how and do a little cookout. >> we sleep, eat. >> triple-a expects it to be a busy one. >> this is probably so the highest 4th of july travel holiday we've seen over the last 10 years. traffic continues to build right now as people head for

the beach. let's check in on the roads now. sharon, you have a busy night tonight! >> we don't even have time to mention everything. the delay we saw on the chopper, that was an only 8- minute setback approaching the harbor tunnel, then again after the harbor tunnel another one approaching 95. and then this one is the big one, on 50 east bound as you imagine, from bay down live of live to the middle of the by bridge, a big backup there. 404 east bound slow to ridgely road. we'll keep you occupy date and have a complete report coming up in about 10 minutes. back to you. >> thank you very much, sharon. many people wondering if the weather will hold up for the holiday weekend. bernadette woods is tracking the conditions now. bernadette. >> we've had a good stretch running up to this weekend. now we're going to show you doppler radar, nothing going on in our area. just a gorgeous evening out there. you do see some storms over the great lakes, moving in our

direction. tomorrow just a chance for a shower and thunderstorm. it's a small chance, but temperatures will start to build. humidity will start to build. then our better chance for showers or storms are sunday into monday, as that front crosses by the area. although these are just scattered showers and thunderstorms, these are not all day rain events. so not a washout of a weekend. keep your plans. we'll keep you updated here at wjz as we head to the weekend. for more on our weather, out to tim in the beautiful outback. >> it is beautiful! and you talk about the widely scattered showers, that's been the order of the day for the last month or so. let's look at some numbers. wrap up the old business from june. the normal amount is just around 3.43 inches of rain for the month of june. we actually got 3.51. it's a surplus of almost .10". as for how that equates into the rest of the year, so far

the normal is just a little more than 20 1/2 inches. and we got just about 19 1/2. so that equates to a surplus -- i'm sorry, a deficit of just about an inch so much we're just under an inch for the year. we're still expecting to make up a little bit hopefully not this weekend when everyone has plans for the holiday. we'll have the complete forecast in just a few mounts minutes. >> thank you. we need some rain! stay with wjz for complete coverage of the 4th of july. find travel conditions, updated travel forecasts and your own look at doppler radar, go to wjz.com. some sad news to pass along to you tonight. bryce phillips, the founder of phillips seafood, died today at age 90. he opened his first ocean city crabhouse back in 1956. he is survived by his wife. 68 years, shirley, two sons and several grandchildren. starting today, people who live in baltimore city have a new way to receive emergency alerts from the police

department. the new system uses text messages and e-mails to keep residents informed about public safety issues and crime in their midst. people can sign up for the program by their individual police district or their neighborhood. to subscribe, go to our website, then click on our links and numbers eye conditional. baltimore schools ceo keeps his job for the next four years even though the school system is in the middle of turmoil. gigi has more or the contract in tonight's school watch report. gigi. >> reporter: dr. alonzo's contract is worth $260,000 a year. by the time it expires in 2015, it will be worth more than a million. four more years at the head of baltimore schools. city schools ceo dr. andres alonso's new contract has fresh ink. his previous contract expired

last night. in a statement, the school board president wrote -- >> some city residents agree. >> we have to measure how long he's been in baltimore and the size of the problem. >> his any contract comes when the district is under fire. two elementary schools caught cheating on standardized tests and a recent dip in test scores, but he has support. >> i don't think that one test score tells the whole story. i think that the problem is more complex than that. >> he signed his first contract back in 2007. now this second contract adds four more years to his stay in baltimore. it's just enough time according to some city residents to make more improvements to the school district. >> there are big issues and

he's made some progress. >> now if he is successful, like making improvements, like boosting test scores for instance, his contract also provides a performance bonus in it. back to. thank you very much, gigi. his contract also includes a $750 monthly stipend for a car and a driver. still ahead on wjz eyewitness news at 5, dominick strauss-kahn is free from house arrest. why the case against him is falling a apartment. >> if there's a warrant out four your arrest, beware, the city is cracking down. that story is next on wj ask, z. >> coming up, >> that story as eyewitness news continues. and a beautiful start to the holiday weekend. will the weather impact your plans? bernadette woods is updating the weather forecast. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

a major break for chief dominic strauss-kahn. tonight prosecutors admit their sexual assault case against him is crumbling. randall pinkston is reporting for wjz. >> reporter: do. vick strauss-kahn walked out of court free from house arrest. >> he will be released in his own recognizance. >> the judge granted his release after prosecutors dug not back of a housekeeper who accused him of sexual assault. >> that investigation raised concerns about the complaining witness's credibility. >> the district attorney's office sent a letter to strauss- kahn's attorney saying the maid misrepresented what she did after the alleged attack at a luxury new york hotel and admitted she made up a story about being raped on her u.s. asylum application. her attorney fired back,

outside the courthouse, insisting she was the victim of a brutal attack. >> the medical evidence supports the victim's account. the forensic evidence supports her account. >> prosecutors have not dropped the charges against strauss- kahn, which include attempted rape. they're keeping their investigation open and plan to be back here for another hearing in a few weeks. strauss-kahn and his attorneys thanked the judge and believe the case will ultimatelying dismissed. >> we have maintained from the beginning that mr. strauss-kahn was innocent these charges. >> the french financier's arrest in may forced him to resign his leadership post at the international monetary fund and scrap france to run for president in france. he still can't leave the u.s. but there's already talk he could be a candidate again. in new york, randall pinkston, wjz eyewitness news. >> he has to return to court on july 18th. if you're waiting for

somebody to get home from work or heading out for the beach, let's check in again with sharon live at wjz traffic control. >> you from headed to the beach, this is the jam you face there. zooming in on it now, on 50 eastbound, it is jammed. first approaching the bridge, then again from bay drive to the middle of the bay bridge. on 404 eve bound, you're looking at a delay as you approach ridgely road. meantime, plenty of accidents, some of them include one on the east side of the beltway still cleaning up from this morning on the outer loop at 702, another at philadelphia road at windsor way. accident on 648 is going to be at orleans. a budge of accidents in the city sweep south dean, west 39th at west university, and north street at west saratoga. another one in glen burnie at 648. and one at annapolis alexanderee farm road. on 895 northbound, we're still looking at delays there, the

tunnel in the northbound direction 8 minutes, and southbound direction o'donnell tunnel another 8 minutes. there's a look at your drive times and speeds. doing better on the beltway, 40 miles per hour now is the slowest spot. there again a live look at your biggest 30 as we suspected it would be, on 50 eastbound if you're headed to the eastern shore. there's a look at the delays on 70 eastbound, running between 29 and marriott road. the traffic brought to you by blue diamond almonds, back to you. putting violent offenders behind bars is a program that aimed to get criminals without warrants. it's been a huge success. >> reporter: a city-wide effort to put criminals where they belong. >> the longer the offenders remain on the street, the more opportunity they'll have to reoffend. >> eight agencies are targeting violent offenders with a warrant initiative. >> we're again focused on most violent offenders, ones that

certainly have been on the list that need to be apprehended, but we made a -- a decision to focus our resources collectively on getting it done. >> in june, the city cleared more an 1,000 warrants and arrested 635 people. the squad served warrens for probation violation, sex and gun crimes. the summer jump-start program is proven to be so effective, the city is extending it for another two weeks, hoping to make an additional 100 arrests. >> he was under supervision for armed robbery with a deadly weapon and attempted murder. so he's a significant threat to public safety and he was arrested on -- >> he was arrested by a warrant squad on june 28th for armed robbery that occurred on june 6 of this year. >> police will continue to focus on robbery, gun offenders and juvenile and domestic violence warrants. the program was funded through a $150,000 grant and

additional $20,000 will fund the extension. >> thank you. participating agencies include city and state police, the department of parole, and probation, and the department of juvenile services. bernadette is here. we continue to talk about the lovely weather that we're having today and into the weekend. >> incredible what is going on! this many days in a row, this kind of weather in july? >> it's when in the morning, you can open your screen doors and fresh air comes in! >> fresh air. >> kind of cool. >> it will be payback for last winter? >> we hope, right? so we'll enjoy this while we have it. 88 degrees is where we sit outside. the humidity is so low right now. barely even a breeze. just very comfortable evening. we will have the weekend forecast for all your fireworks plans, coming up after this break. >> it's friday! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

welcome back, everybody. just look at these shots, how clear and crisp everything looks. with such low humidity, it's a great way to kick off the long holiday weekend, and by the signs of the traffic a lot of

people already done that. so let's start out with some of the numbers and show what you is going on outside. 88 degrees is where we've topped out so far today. started out the day at 60 degrees. very comfortable outside. and even right now we're still coming in at 88 and notice the dewpoint, it's down in the 40s. that's the lowest it's been a long time and that's why it families for so refreshing outside. and the air feels fresh at times, especially during the morning hours. getting closer and show you temperatures around the region, mainly in the 80s. but we've got 90 degrees down towards d.c. 80s also the beach and in the mountains. the winds have been out of the northwest, keeping that dryer air around. but they're going to turn around to the south tomorrow and the heat will start to build in, the humidity. air quality alert is in effect for the day tomorrow around the d.c. metro area, and the philly metro area also on the delaware beaches if you're heading to those directions, we could see this expand into the baltimore metro region over the next few days, and of course if that happens we'll let you know about it.

here are the temperatures just off to the southwest. there's some heat building. it's still 84 in chicago. but 97 in minneapolis. and 95 in kansas city. and that's air moving in our direction. we're not going to be as hot as some of our last go arounds but we will build and it's because of this storm right in here. not a lot to it right now but it will slowly move in our direction, and tomorrow see some clouds come in from it, the chance for a shower or two. it's a small chance but if you're out in the mountains there's a better chance of a shower or thunderstorm. on sunday the front front is on top of us, it will be our best chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms, and slowly it will pull away on monday, but still close enough there's a chance for a shower or storm. so we put that together on the waters, it's going to be beautiful! south winds at 5 to 10 knots. bay temperature up to 79 degrees. what a way to start off a 4th of july weekend! clear and comfortable tonight, 64 degrees. by tomorrow, 90 for the high.

humidity starts to build. still not oppressive tomorrow. then a little liar into sunday and monday. if you're down at the ocean take a look at this. saturday 86 degrees. the water temp close to 70 so it's trying to warm up. sunday and monday we do have that chance for a shower or thunderstorm to pop up. but it's not all day, so -- good weather to have. >> sounds fabulous. >> thank you. still ahead on wjz eyewitness news at 5, unexpected developments in the casey anthony murder trial. we're following the latest from the courtroom. a man cons his way on to a cross-country flight. what happened when he faced a federal judge today. >> the 4th of july celebrations begin today. a parade, big name entertainment, and a whole lot more! the story coming up here on wjz. ,,

it's 5:30. 88 degrees and sunny. good evening, and thank you for staying with wjg eyewitness news. here's some. stories people are talking about tonight. when does good air go bad? nasa is searching for the answer using a low-flying plane over maryland. alex reports the first flight took wing today. >> reporter: maybe you saw it, flying at only 1,000 feet. this plane converted by nasa scientists into a flying laboratory, studying air quality between washington, d.c. and grace. >> in the long run, this will be able to help protect public

health. >> nasa already uses satellites to track pollutions. they're good at seeing what is happening really high up. but. >> unfortunately the satellites now are not really good enough to diagnose what is at surface levels versus what is higher in the atmosphere. >> and for people the action is closer to the ground. pollution levels generated by cars, coal burning power plants is at best a guess for satellites. ground stations do get exact reads, but only over a small area. nasa is looking for samples between street level and space. >> spiral up, try to get a complete spiral of the atmosphere up to 10,000 feet. >> day long flights, corkscrew up and down over the same maryland terrain, flying lowest over interstate 95 and 295. for the pilot it, means hours of tricky maneuvering. >> look out for other air traffic. listen to the radio, listen to what air traffic control wants us to do, and don't run into a lot of towers. >> our area was chosen for the study because a lot of what we

breathe drifts in from other states. >> particularly from maryland, the ohio river valley can send large amounts every pollution at altitude above the area. a sad light is unable to distinguish currently whether that pollution is above your head or down where you're breathing. >> in flight data collected by the plane's instruments may help fill in the blanks by allowing researchers to fine- tune future satellite readings. >> if you missed the nasa flyover today, you'll have plenty of other chances. flights will be staged during most of july. a woman takes a tragic fall from a rooftop bar in washington, d.c. witnesses say the woman had been drinking at the w hotel before she climbed the railing that surrounds the rooftop lounge. she was hanging from the rational railing before she fell 10 stories to her death. police have identified the woman as 47-year-old stephanie of alexandria, virginia. the prosecutions in the casey anthony murder trial began the rebuttal but not

after a tumultuous morning. the judge called a recess after lawyers began arguing over the witness list. the first witness on the stand was a representity of the company that imand employed casey's mother. he testified cindy anthony was at work on the day she claimed to have looked at chloroform on the family's home computer. prosecutors contend it was casey anthony who performed the searches. she is accused of suffocating her two-year-old daughter in 2008. if convicted, she could face the death penalty. the man accused of being a stowaway on a cross-country flight appears in federal court today. as joy benedict reports, the suspect exposed a serious breach in airline security. >> reporter: he is accused of boarding a plane with an expired boarding pass and someone else's name. and today in a los angeles federal courtroom, a judge called the 24-year-old nigerian national a flight risk and denied him bond. >> the flight risk argument is based on his statement that he had plans to travel to nigeria

next week. >> authorities say the nigerian national passed through multiple layers of security, making it on to a virgin american flight at new york's jfk, headed to los angeles. halfway there, a flight attendant noticed he was sitting in ace seat that was supposed to be empty. the flight continued because he made no threats and was not carrying any weapons. the fbi questioned him when he deplaned but let him go when they determined he no connections to terror. but when he allegedly tried to do the same thing at l.a.x. earlier this week, authorities pounced. when they searched his bags they found at least 10 more boarding passes with different names. authorities did not believe he is part of some sort of terrorist organization or that this incident is some sort of dry run for a terror plot. the tsa released a statement saying -- he is charged with being a

stowaway on a aircraft and could face up to five years in prison if convicted. joy benedict, cbs news, los angeles. he is scheduled back in court on july 13th for a preliminary hearing. notre dame reaches a settlement regarding a student who died while introducing football practice there. he was killed when the hydraulic scissor lift he was on toppled over in high wind. newspaper to the school will pay a $42,000 fine for safety violations and make a contribution to a memorial for sullivan. his parents say they are satisfied with that settlement. the los al motion wildfire is now the largest in new mexico history. fire officials are now optimistic the town and its famous nuclear facility will be spared. >> reporter: crews are fighting fire with fire, using controlled burns to create a perimeter around los alamos and its nuclear lab. they say it's the best defense against this growing wildfire. >> i'm feeling really good

about my portion, my small piece of this puzzle, to know the lab is safe and that all fires kept off except that one acre. >> more than 1200 firefighters are attack the flames from the air and ground. 37 dropped fire retardant into canyons to stop the wildfires' advance. >> i'm very concerned, but much less so than we were in 2000. >> the town is thick with smoke but officials say they're more confident by the day that the town and the los alamos nuclear lab are safe. but the fire is still burning out of control. it's heading north towards santa clara pueblo, an indian reservation with about a thousand residents. gilbert has lived on the land all his life. >> now that we see their focus was save the los alamos, what about us? the last fire, we're still not even recovered from the last fire. >> sacred grounds on the mountain above the town have already burned. >> that's my kids' future, my

grandkids. >> the fire is also destroying the forest animals depend on, sending wild animals like this mountain lion into town. despite their optimism, officials are not going to let evacuees back into los alamos until at least next week. sandra hughes, wjz eyewitness news. governor martinez is asking people to avoid using fireworks in new mexico. she says the conditions are just too dry. u.s. treasury department gives congress a major warning with the debt limit, saying the limit must be raised in order to avoid catastrophic economic consequences. if an agreement can't be medicine by august 2, the u.s. will begin defaulting on its debt. lawmakers need to agree how to cut about $2 trillion to raise the debt ceiling. smoke something not own hazardous to your health, it's costing some people their jobs. the humanna insurance company says workers who use tobacco products won't be hired in the arizona offices from now on.

they will use urine tests to screen for nicotine. the assurance giant says it's trying to improve the health of its workers. legal experts say smokers are not protected under any law. an audit turns up in property dealings between the state highway administration and some of the contractors the agency does business welcome if you think you've seen more fireflies than usual this year, you're right. find out why. and coverage of the underarmor all-american lacrosse game. for all these stories a lot more, read tomorrow's baltimore sun and look for the updated forecasted on wjz first warning weather team. if you want to start your holiday celebration early, there's no better place than dundalk. the fair kicks off four days of festivities in one of area's oldest and proudest neighborhoods. >> reporter: the dundalk 4th of july parade steps offer monday

morning. thousands will line the streets, but the heritage park the fair has already begun. the guess who is a music headliner this weekend. >> they're doing all their hits. it should be a great home is we've been getting calls from out of state, coming from everywhere to see this show. >> eddie money performs too. heritage honcho joe says it's a star spangled bargain. >> show me somewhere in this area where you can go watch a national act for five dollars. >> this 1968 cadillac will be part of the parade. if you've seen this before, you may be right. it is owned by sam and hazel. >> they asked if we would be interested, and they picked our car out of all the cars, the type they wanted for of movie. >> no matter who stopped by to look at the car, our friends would say, that's the car in

the wedding crashers, and it's pretty cool. >> music and money, a famous movie car and a whole lot more. it's happening this weekend in dundalk. >> there's also a big fireworks display on monday night. for a complete schedule of convenient, just go to our website, wjz.com, and click on local news. and by all means, don't forget as part of our commitment we're a proud sponsor of the 4th chesapeake 4th of july fireworks show at the inner harbor this year. the fireworks will begin monday night around 9:30. >> and still to come on wjz eyewitness news, an unwelcome guest, passenger 71 a scorpion on a plane. tonight we're learning how that thing got on to the plane in the first place. a father-daughter hiking team missing in the mountains. why their family is hopeful they're survive. >> we're putting together

exclusive 5-day forecast with takes us through the holiday weekend. well have it after this break! >> first here's today's report from wall street. we'll be right back. ,,,,,,,,,,,

welcome back. what a beautiful shot that is! it's beautiful weather now, some of the bridge traffic isn't so beautiful at this hour. but of course, we'll have more on that. first the weather side of everything goes, sending it out to out back, with our holiday weekend. >> it's already started, it's beautiful out here and it will continue in through tomorrow. we start with temperatures in the low 60s. we'll go on through the day, going up gradually through the 70s and 80s to a high close to about 90 degrees, maybe, very slightly chance of a thundershower in the end of the weekend. >> tomorrow 90 degrees, just a chance for a late day shower or storms, but sunday into monday, better chance of scattered showers and storms but not all-

day rain event. the temperatures are screaming up. humidity also will be creeping up. it looks like that front gets out of here but another one can come in by mid-week. >> thank you. an investigation is underway into a mysterious drowning in a massachusetts swimming pool. the body of 36-year-old marie joseph sat on the bottom of that pool for two days before anybody spotted it. police say a boy who was with the woman notified lifeguards but she did not come to the surface. however, apparently no action was taken. health inspectors previously closed the 12-foot deep because of its cloudy water. a father-daughter team of experienced hikers are missing in colorado. they've within hiking together for years. they were missing eight days and the family is worried. a rescue team is searching the mountain. they're expecting to search for several more days. police bust an illegal family counterfeiting business. the alleged ringleader, a 63- year-old grandmother. three generations of one family are accused of using fake money made in their home to make

purchases at fast-food restaurants and small businesses, in orange county, california. they were discovered when a cashier swiped the fake $10 bill with a marker. imagine a shocked passenger has won a scorpion wakes him up on a plane. it crawled on to the man's feet and stung him. tonight an airline spokesperson says the scorpion probably crawled onboard during the stop in texas. the man feared the bite could be deadly. >> raise up my hand and i was like, that's a scorpion! and my tray table was down on so i grabbed a napkin and picked that thing up and just head on to t just like a natural reaction to grab it. >> okay. i wouldn't have that natural reaction, that's okay. the man suffered no major harm from the sting, exempt for a mark on his arm. the airline has offered him 4,000 frequent flyer myers and

two round-trip tickets. it's the next royal wedding. prince albert of monaco met his bride amid reports she wanted to call the whole thing off. >> reporter: she's the first princess of monaco since grace kelly. charlene married one of world's most eligible bachelors in a civil ceremony. many worried prince albert would never tie the knot. the 53-year-old long resisted marriage, although he has fathered at least two children. albert finally proposed a year ago to the 33-year-old south african olympic swimmer. and today's exchange of vows puts an end to speculation the bride had cold feet. an enormous crowd of the rich and famous expected for tomorrow's catholic ceremony and party. the biggest wedding in monaco since grace kelly married albert's father 55 years ago. while kate middleton used princess grace's gown as inspiration for hers, her

recent wedding was a far cry from this three-day affair, estimated to cost $70 million. >> very much more bling. we here in england were trying to play down the grandeur of william's wedding, and in monaco they're playing it up. >> and if monaco is hoping for an heir, the new princess is ready to deliver. she says she loves children and is looking forward to having her own. rita nissan, wjz eyewitness news. >> the guest list includes the kings of spain and sweden, along with the presidents of france and germany. check in with eyewitness news at 6 for all new stories coming up, including a frightening attack. the trick the thieves used to break into a baltimore home. and paying more nor alcohol, that's not the only big change in maryland and how they'll affect you. that's coming up all new at 6. >> and still ahead, on

eyewitness news, bad news for one struggling o's pitcher, sent to the minors after yet another bad outing on the mound last night. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

the woes of o's continue. now highly regarded birds pitcher has been sent down to the minors. dan is here with details on this. stan. >> although trying his best to get the season long mojo off his back, orioles pitcher got hurt last night. his effort leading to his being demoted to triple-a norfolk. the message is here is work on meeting high expectations, improve velocity and commends on pitches and lower that era of near 14. last night he gave up a career worst 8 earned runs over 3 1/2 innings, including that 4th inning homer to john j. of course, the orioles sweep at the hands of the card was a deciding factor. however, he's excited about going on to norfolk and getting back on track. >> really tough -- ebbs accuse me, i'm losing my voice -- but it's going to be tough.

i'm not getting -- it's not fair for the team. they had to go out there and make starts like this. but just motivation for me to get down there, work with mike, pitching coach, and get myself back to regular form. >> grow. they start an series ton, watch the birds-braves tomorrow night at 7, sunday 1:30 p.m. both games live here on wjz. that's a quick hit on sports at 5. much more to discuss though at 6, including an update on both the nfl labor mess and men's semis on the tennis court at wimbeldon. that and more, 50 minutes from now, at 6. don. >> thank you very much, stan. on this july 4th weekend many of us will remember the men and women of our military. there's a unique program that is helping men veterans with disfiguring wounds.

>> reporter: marine staff sergeant octavio sanchez considers himself lucky to be alive. six years ago, while serving in iraq, his squad rolled over a roadside bomb. >> i launched a vehicle they said about 40 feed. three of us made it out alive. i was engulfed from head to toe. >> the father of four suffered third-degree burns over 70% of his face and body. >> just said, please just do whatever you can to save his life. >> military doctors amputated one every his hands and some fingers on the other hand. after several skin grafts, he went home. healed but badly scarred. he thought there was nothing more he could do. until he heard about operation mend. the ucla program provides reconstructive surgery to service members at no cost. >> they've been through a tremendous amount, and more than i think anybody can comprehend. >> using skin from the forehead, ear, cartilage and a piece of rib, the doctor who

served in vietnam was able to construct a nose, lip and cheeks. >> it looks amazing and made all the difference. >> i'm at a loss for words. at times -- how do you say -- talk about somebody who has done so much for us and taken his time and given back to us and giving us -- you know, a little piece peace of mind. >> the operation not only made him look better, it made him feel better about himself. sandra hughes, wjz eyewitness news. >> today 48 members of all branches of the service have been helped by operation mend. still to come on wjz eyewitness news, five years after the record gas leak in jacksonville, a record payout. but what one and a half billion dollars won't buy. peace of mind. exclusive interviews from those who brought su,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

accusers credibility. the surprising twist that set the former head of the international monetary fund free from house arrest. fabulous friday heading into a long holiday weekend. we'll let you know if your outdoor plans could be ruined by rain. "wjz eyewitness news at 6:00" starts now. hello. family members